March 27, 2015 at 21:20Notel - video player for Koreans
- Transfer
When the North Korean deserter Park Sang-hak planned to drop the Interview discs on the DPRK, he was sure that North Korean citizens would see this film. Therefore, the government was not able to stop the spread of cheap DVD players brought into the country through smuggling from China.
Reuters reports that a portable DVD player called “Notel” is available on the black market for RMB 300, equivalent to $ 50. The device has a small LCD monitor and can be recharged from a car battery, which can be useful, as in North Korea, power outages often occur.
The defector told the agency that last year he secretly sent 18 thousand players to the DPRK, and the factory that manufactures them continues to work only because there is a demand for its products in the DPRK, while in China these devices came out out of fashion.
The distribution of the gadget was so difficult to control, which is why the DPRK government legalized the use of the device. However, citizens can only buy a special version of Notel, sold in government stores. This version of the player is specially tuned so that it is not possible to watch foreign channels.
